Umbrella cover



J. SHERMAN UMBRELLA COVER May 1, 1951 Filed July 6, 1949 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F1" JE. l

J. SHERMAN UMBRELLA COVER May 1, 1951 Filed July 6, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v FIE, 4-

Patented May 1, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE UMBRELLA COVER Jack Sherman, Brooklyn, N. Y.

7 Application July 6, 1949, Serial No. 103,232

3 Claims.

The object of the present invention is to provide an umbrella cover, which, except for ap purtenances, may be formed of a single sheet of plastic material, as for example, a vinyl compound, preferably transparent, and which may be readily attached to. the umbrella frame without stitching.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary View in elevation, and partly in section, showing an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view, and fragmentary, of the structure shown in the preceding figure, certain elements being shown by dotted. lines.

Fig. 3 is a top plan View of an umbrella carrying the unitary cover.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the' line l-4, Fig. 3.

Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive are vertical sections through the margins of five different cover forms, showing various marginal reinforcement of the cover.

Fig. 9 is a marginal vertical section taken through the cover adjacent a supporting rib of the umbrella frame and showing the rib receiv ing nipple.

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a vertical section on the line III I, Fig. 9.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the rib receiving nipple.

According to the drawings I have shown in Fig. 1, a conventional umbrella frame comprising a rod I, which carries at its top the usual peripherally slotted ring 2, each slot of which receives a rib 3, all of the ribs being held in place by a wire located at 4.

As customary, each rib is connected to an actuator rod 6:0. which in turn is pivotally connected to a sleeve 6 on rod I. When the sleeve is moved upward to the position of Fig. 1, it is held by the usual spring latch '1.

Rod 1 may carry a protecting nose 8 and below the nose and contacting with the top of ring 2, the latter being snugly fitted to the rod, is the cover member 5.

The cover member 5 consists of a single sheet of plastic, preferably transparent. It is formed with a thickened or reinforced annular central area directly surrounding the rod I, the material of the cover then extending radially as a thinner flexible membrane to its periphery. At its peripheral margin the cover is thickened and. hence reinforced.

In the construction shown in Figs. 4. and 5, the cover is molded with its thickened center and heavy periphery. However, it may be desirable to use sheeting, and further to fold the margin back upon itself and adhere said margin to the major wall, as in Fig. 7; or to apply a single reinforcement strip as at 9, Fig. 6; or a folded reinforcement strip as at I53, Fig. 8. When the cover is pre-cured, the reinforced margin may be cemented. However, it is entirely feasible, and indeed preferable, to employ a pressure and heat-sensitive plastic so that cementing will be unnecessary.

The ribs are received in rib-holding nipples shown in Figs. 9 to 12 inclusive. These nipples are preferably made of plastic, as for example a vinyl plastic, carried to a more extended, condensation than the primary area of the cover, so as to be capable of receiving the rib-stresses without deformation or fracture.

I prefer that the rib-holding nipples be molded in one piece, as shown more particularly in Fig. 12 at II and with a semi-tube formation at II x, which is initially spaced from the flat area of the nipple to receive the thickened margin of the cover. The semi-tube formation IIx will be closed at its end by a relatively strong wall against which the rib will abut, as shown in Fig. 9.

In its application, each rib-holding nipple is placed at the margin of the cover and the latter inserted between the half-tube formation IIsc and its opposite fiat side. And then, preferably by heat and pressure, the rib receiving nipple is sealed to the cover margin so that it will be positioned as shown in Figs. 9 and 10. In some cases it may be desirable that the cover as a whole, and the nipple, be only partly cured, or green, so that the heat and pressure used in bonding the nipple to the cover will complete the cure. It is also preferable that the nipple be made of the same plastic composition as that used in the primary cover.

It is desired that the plastic material be nonstretchable in the sense that it will resist any permanent deformation by stresses in normal use. It can, of course, have certain elastic properties, but that is not essential. In the use of plastics which are resistant to stretching, as are certain plastics, a limited fulling of longitudinal of each marginal area may be desirable. To that end the thickened margin may be slightly 3 corrugated or channeled, as generally indicated at M, Fig. 10.

The cover may be quickly applied to the umbrella frame by inserting the upper end of the rod through the reinforced central area of the cover so that the latter will be seated upon the upper flat surface of the ring 2. A washer 12 may be slipped into position, followed by the nose 8, each rib may then be bent and slipped into its appropriate rib holding nipple.

In many cases it may be unnecessary to employ a substitute for the stiching between intermediate areas of the cover and the ribs. How ever, holding means in substitution of such customary stitching is employed in the embodiment of the invention herein illustrated. Thus, at each rib area the cover has bonded thereto a short plastic tube or sleeve l3 and these sleeves may be initially positioned on the ribs and followed by heat-sealing them to the inner face of the cover or by connecting them to the cover in any other suitable way, as by cementing. In all cases however, heat sealing is preferred.

It will be understood that various modifications may be made in the form and arrangement of 1.

the elements constituting the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings without departing from the spirit of the invention. It will be understood by reference to Fig. 9, for example, that while the rib-receiving nipple is shown, for clarity of illustration, as a definite addition to the thickened marginal area of the cover, that the nipples may be integrally molded sections of the cover itself, and even when pre-molded, and applied to the cover margin, there will be interfiow of the plastic surfaces under heat and pressure, particularly when the nipples are incompletely cured and reach their final curing stage by the application of the heat and pressure applied for bonding them to the cover.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. A cover for umbrellas consisting of a unitary plastic sheet formed with the thickened area at its center, said area being apertured for the passage of a rod element, the periphery of the cover being thickened and thereby reinforced, in combination with a plurality of rib-tip receiving nipples carried by the thickened margin of the plastic cover each consisting of a member having a flattened face bonded to the thickened periphery of the cover and also having a pocket adapted to receive a rib tip, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A cover for umbrellas consisting of a unitary plastic sheet formed with the thickened area at its center, said area being apertured for the passage of a rod element, the periphery of the cover being thickened and thereby reinforced, in combination with a plurality of rib-receiving nipples, each nipple consisting of a flattened section bonded to the cover margin exteriorly thereof and a rib-receiving area bonded to the margin of the cover interiorly thereof.

3. A cover for umbrellas consisting of a unitary plastic sheet formed with the thickened area at its center, said area being apertured for the passage of a rod element, the periphery of the cover being thickened and thereby reinforced, in combination with a plurality of rib-tip receiving nipples carried by the thickened margin of the plastic cover each consisting of a member having a flattened face bonded to the thickened periphery of the cover also having a pocket adapted to receive a rib tip, and a plurality of rib-receiving sleeves bonded to the inner face of the cover member radially of the rib-receiving nipples.

JACK SHERMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 506,405 Lake r- Oct. 10, 1893 1,749,363 Venner, Jr. Mar. 1930 2,051,750 Siers Aug. 18,1936 

